Siemens to Showcase its Patient Safety Solutions at HIMSS 2008 MALVERN, Pa., Feb. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Siemens (http://www.usa.siemens.com/healthcareit) will showcase its many solutions that are designed to help enhance quality of care and patient safety at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2008 Annual Conference and Exhibition (Booth #3763), to be held in Orlando Feb. 24 through Feb. 28. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO ) Siemens Med Administration Check(TM) (MAK) utilizes point-of-care barcode technology to automatically validate and document the medication administration process to help reduce the potential for errors and improve care. MAK helps to reduce errors by providing a tool that alerts nurses immediately to potential errors of drug, dose, route, time or patient. CentraState Healthcare System, a 272-bed, non-profit medical facility located in Freehold, N.J., kicked off a system-wide initiative last year to help address the costs and risks associated with preventable medication errors. A large component of the initiative included the implementation of MAK, along with Siemens Pharmacy. Now, when CentraState pharmacists fill a medication order, the system cross-checks the order with the patient's medical record for any potential contraindications and nurses use barcode scanners to scan the medication and patient at the bedside when administering medications, during which the MAK system will provide alerts to the nurse if any potential risks or errors are detected. Since using these solutions, CentraState has witnessed a 42 percent reduction in avoidable adverse drug events*. "The support and acceptance of this project from our staff members has been remarkable," explained Indranil "Neal" Ganguly, CIO, CentraState. "The solutions from Siemens have greatly improved the quality of care we provide to our patients and we are looking forward to continuing to grow our patient safety programs with help from our team at Siemens." Siemens Patient Identification Check applies barcode technology to the patient specimen collection process for reliable, efficient positive identification of each specimen. As a result, it minimizes collection errors and can reduce the need to re-draw specimens. Patient specimen identification is verified in four steps, performed in the presence of the patient: scanning the barcode on the clinician's ID card, scanning the barcode on the patient's wristband, reviewing specimen detail such as the type of container and scanning the specimen container. Siemens Patient Identification Check then prints a barcode label that includes the actual time of collection and the name of the clinician who took the sample. Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, a 612-bed tertiary care center and flagship of West Tennessee Healthcare, serves the 17-county area of rural West Tennessee. Prior to deploying Siemens Patient Identification Check in its Medical Center Lab, the staff ran regular risk management analyses to track missed or late specimen collections. The average number of daily risk management reports was between six and eight. The number of risk reports for delayed collections has dropped significantly to fewer than four per month*. In addition to the positive impacts on patient safety that Patient Identification Check has helped to drive, the solution has also assisted significant workflow improvements and specimen collection and delivery turnaround times. Prior to using the solution, phlebotomists would need to secure pre-printed labels from the lab for all of their specimen collections. With the new solution, phlebotomists can act on an order immediately when notified via their Patient Identification Check handheld computer client, taking a patient sample and then immediately sending it to the lab. The result has been a 70 percent improvement, from an average of 21 minutes to 6.5 minutes, from collection to delivery to the lab of patient samples*. Soarian(R) Device Connect enables electronic collection of information from GE DINAMAP(R) vital signs monitors, streamlining the task of identifying patients, recording observations, and supporting validation of the documented vital signs. It helps to eliminate opportunities for transcription errors by replacing manual data transcription. It makes vitals information immediately available to the clinicians. It also helps to validate and transfer vital signs electronically, with only a few clicks, helping to eliminate paper-based capture and online keying, thereby increasing nursing productivity. CaroMont Health, an independent, not-for-profit healthcare system based in Gastonia, N.C., recently served as the beta site for Soarian Device Connect. In addition to the patient safety implications of having patient vital signs automatically validated and documented via Soarian Device Connect, CaroMont experienced significant workflow efficiency gains. CaroMont saw a reduction in process time by more than 45 percent -- by nine minutes per bed, per day -- in the first month of production use. Additionally, the nursing staff experienced a reduction of process steps by more than half -- from 24 to 11 -- in less than one month*. * Results at other organizations may vary. Siemens has data supporting these outcomes on file. About Siemens Healthcare Siemens Healthcare is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry. The company is a renowned medical solutions provider with core competence and innovative strength in diagnostic and therapeutic technologies as well as in knowledge engineering, including information technology and system integration. With its laboratory diagnostics acquisitions, Siemens Healthcare will be the first fully integrated diagnostics company, bringing together imaging and lab diagnostics, therapy, and healthcare information technology solutions, supplemented by consulting and support services. Siemens Healthcare delivers solutions across the entire continuum of care -- from prevention and early detection, to diagnosis, therapy and care. The company employs more than 49,000 people worldwide and operates in 130 countries. In the fiscal year 2007 (Sept. 30), Siemens Healthcare reported sales of euro 9.85 billion (on a pro forma basis including Dade Behring roughly euro 11 billion), orders of euro 10.27 billion, and group profit of euro 1.32 billion. Further information can be found by visiting http://www.siemens.com/healthcare. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Siemens Healthcare CONTACT: Michele Bowman of Siemens, +1-610-448-3236, Web site: http://www.siemens.com/healthcare http://www.usa.siemens.com/healthcareit http://www.usa.siemens.com/medical

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